Three arrested for online threat to Kashmir's all-girl rock band

BANGALORE, INDIA: The Jammu and Kashmir police have arrested three persons for allegedly threatening the all-girls Kashmiri rock band, Pragaash.

This is the latest addition to the arrests made under the Section 66A of Information Technology (IT) Act, but this is different from all others and is being commended by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah too. He tweeted, "I'm glad the police in Kashmir has identified and arrested people for the online threats made to the girls. I'm told more arrests are possible."

The arrested, Tariq Khan, Rameez Shah and Irshad Ahmad Chara, had allegedly tortured teenagers with their online posts, describing them as un-Islamic. That had prompted band members Noma Bhatt, Farah Deeba (aka Farwona), and Aneeqa Khalid to quit many things--- from singing to Facebook page.

A BBC report quoted the girls as saying that they had received abuse and hate mail on Facebook since they made their first live appearance at the Battle of the Bands music festival in Srinagar in December.

Last year, cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was arrested under the Section 66A of IT Act for his bold cartoons against the Government of India. Similarly, Ambikesh Mahapatra, a professor from West Bengal, was arrested for cartoons against chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Recently, a 21-year-old girl Shaheen Dhada and her friend Renu Srinivasan were arrested by Mumbai police for their Facebook posts questioning the bandh in the city after the death of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.